1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to manifolds for dispensing fluids.
2. The Relevant Technology
During the manufacturing and processing of sterile liquid products by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, a manifold is often used to simultaneously dispense the sterile liquid product from a storage container into a plurality of smaller containers, generally bags, that are then used for processing, testing or other purposes. Conventional manifolds are typically manufactured from a plurality of tube sections that are manually connected together using T's and other connectors. The plurality of bags are then manually connected to the assembled tubes. While such manifolds allow the liquid product to be successfully transferred between the storage container and the smaller containers, there are a number of shortcomings with such systems, especially with regards to sterile liquids.
Initially, the traditional manifolds are time-consuming and labor intensive to assemble. The tube assembly can also be unwieldy and difficult to work with. In addition, the large number of connections required by the conventional manifold creates an increased risk that a connection may fail, i.e., leak, thereby contaminating the sterile liquid being processed. Furthermore, because the manifolds are made from tube sections that are cut and pressed together, particulate matter from the cutting or assembling process can become trapped within the tubes. In turn, the unwanted particulate matter can become suspended within the fluid traveling through the tubes and be carried in the bags with the fluid. This results in unwanted particulate within the fluid.
In addition to housing particulate matter, the tubes are also occupied by a gas, such as air. As the fluid flows through the tubes to the containers, the fluid pushes the gas into the containers. This gas is unwanted as it occupies space that could be used for fluid and because the gas can have a negative influence on the fluids. Finally, because the tubes can have a fairly large passage extending therethrough, a significant amount of fluid can be retained within the tubes after the containers are filled. This fluid can be difficult to remove from the tubes and can thus result in an unwanted waste of the fluid.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art are improved fluid manifold systems that overcome one or more of the above shortcomings.